Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives edited by Sarah Weinman

Mystery lovers are in for a treat with the publication of Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, which is edited by Sarah Weinman.  This anthology features stories by some of the grande dames and early female writers in the mystery genre.  These women paved the way for the successful female crime writers of today, women such as Tana French, Denise Mina, Val McDermid and Laurie King. 

The stories are set in the years between the 1940's to the 1970's.  There are writers everyone has heard of, women such as Patricia Highsmith, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Shirley Jackson and Celia Fremlin.  But there are also literary gems by writers most have never heard of or have forgotten.  These are women such as Nedra Tyre, Miriam Deford, Joyce Harrington and Helen Nielsen.  Regardless of whether the reader is familiar with the authors or not, the experience of reading these stories is fulfilling. 

Sarah Weinman's main job is as the news editor for Publishers Marketplace.  She also writes a monthly newsletter, the Crimewave for the National Post.  Her own short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcok Mystery Magazine and in the anthologies Long Island Noir, Dublin Noir and Baltimore Noir.  Her love of these early women authors and their contributions to the world of mystery writing is evident in this highly readable anthology.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.